The Warden Can't Handle It, The Chief Jailer Will! (Seeking Follow-ups!)

"Warden, I heard Sadie-chan was attacked by a Prison Beast!"

"Gurgle—"

"...I deeply regret that."

"Pfft—"

"But prison order can't stop running. I'm willing to take on more dangerous work—let me manage the Prison Beasts!"

"Crackle pop—"

The relentless barrage of noise made veins bulge across Storm's forehead.

"Warden! Stop pulling the chain! I'm scared!"

Rush—

With a loud sound of flushing water, Magellan, his whole body faintly radiating poison gas, stepped out of the restroom.

"My apologies, I had a bit of diarrhea. And I just went through another fierce battle."

Magellan gently rubbed his stomach, his face full of regret.

"Seems like this morning's chicken soup gave me food poisoning..."

I remember when you drank that chicken soup this morning, didn't you praise it as "not too salty, not too bland, absolutely delicious"?

Storm's mouth twitched a few times.

"Warden, if you can't handle poisonous chicken soup, then don't drink it."

Storm advised seriously.

"Being a picky eater is actually a good thing."

"Hahaha, it's precisely because I'm picky."

Magellan laughed heartily, waving his hand without a care.

"As a 'Poison Human,' my favorite food is poison!"

Storm was speechless.

If he poisoned Magellan...

Would that count as "feeding" or "murder"?

Just then, Magellan continued.

"I shouldn't say this, but isn't there a saying... 'fight poison with poison'?"

"You're only getting diarrhea because you can't 'fight poison with poison,' aren't you?!"

Storm cut Magellan off, unable to hold back his sarcasm.

"How can a Poison Human still get poisoned?

"That sounds as ridiculous as a cobra being killed by its own venom!"

"Storm, since when did you get so sharp-tongued?"

Magellan looked at Storm with some surprise.

"Have you been influenced by that scheming Hannyabal?"

"I—"

Storm started to answer, then caught himself and forcefully dragged the topic back on track.

"Warden! I want a promotion!"

"So you have been influenced by that ambitious Hannyabal!"

Magellan rubbed his stomach and let out a long sigh.

"You've only been here a week, sigh..."

This time, without Domino's help, Storm retreated several meters on his own, dodging the poison mist attack.

He had no intention of inhaling the poison gas from Magellan's sigh!

"Haha!"

Magellan watched Storm's wary expression and couldn't help laughing again.

"You're much sharper than Hannyabal."

"Warden, about Sadie-chan—"

"I know."

Magellan nodded, sinking into thought.

Jokes aside, fun aside.

Magellan quickly restored the dignified authority of Impel Down's Warden.

He seriously considered Storm's suggestion.

This newcomer, who had only been at Impel Down for a week, had indeed exposed a serious problem the prison was currently facing—

A shortage of manpower!

Impel Down, six levels of hell, each level held an extremely large number of prisoners.

Before being sent to Impel Down, these prisoners were already lawless, ruthless characters.

With so many fierce individuals gathered together, daily management was extremely difficult.

In truth, with Magellan's strength, he could completely suppress the entire Impel Down.

The Paramecia-type Doku Doku no Mi, in Impel Down's special enclosed environment, had its power and effectiveness doubled!

But the problem was that Magellan himself couldn't withstand the deadly poison of the Doku Doku no Mi...

Magellan, age 41, lived on the fourth level of Impel Down, Scorching Hell.

He had to suffer diarrhea for ten hours every day to avoid being poisoned to death by himself.

Excluding eating and sleeping time.

Magellan's daily working hours were only a short four hours.

It was precisely because of this.

Impel Down needed other jailers to help share the Warden's workload.

In the past, the Deputy Warden, Shiryu of the Rain, could effectively assist Magellan in managing Impel Down.

Shiryu of the Rain was a man hailed alongside Magellan as the "Iron Wall" of Impel Down!

But in recent years.

Shiryu's behavior had become increasingly excessive.

Magellan had seen Shiryu kill prisoners indiscriminately more than once.

Impel Down held countless death row inmates.

But that didn't mean Shiryu, as a jailer, could arbitrarily take the lives of prisoners!

In recent times.

Magellan and Shiryu had clashed more than once.

Yet Shiryu still refused to change despite repeated admonishments.

The Warden was busy with diarrhea every day.

The Deputy Warden was busy killing every day.

The prison's guard duties were mostly distributed among the other Jailer Chiefs and a large number of Prison Guards.

But right at this critical juncture.

Sadie-chan was attacked by a Prison Beast...

Calling it an "attack" wasn't quite accurate either.

According to Magellan's understanding.

Sadie-chan was managing the Prison Beasts when they gave her a little "resistance."

And then she ended up seriously injured.

Given Sadie-chan's current strength, having her manage the cold and brutal Prison Beasts was indeed too difficult.

During Sadie-chan's recovery period.

Magellan had already planned to assign someone else to take on the task of managing the Prison Beasts.

For example, Hannyabal, Hannyabal, and Hannyabal...

But now Storm had voluntarily applied to manage the Prison Beasts.

Magellan couldn't help but hesitate.

On one hand, he had some doubts about Storm's strength.

Sadie-chan was a young girl.

But Storm was only one year older than Sadie-chan!

If Sadie-chan could be easily injured by the Prison Beasts.

Wouldn't Storm be the same?

If, after Sadie-chan got hurt, Storm got hurt in succession.

Magellan's troubles would only increase.

On the other hand, Storm had been at Impel Down for far too short a time!

At most, it was only a week.

Even if Storm's daily performance was outstanding.

The Blue Gorilla had been trained by him to behave like a dog.

The management work in Crimson Lotus Hell also hadn't encountered a single hitch.

But he'd only been there for a week!

Magellan pondered for a long time before making his final decision.

"Alright, Storm."

Magellan said in a deep voice.

"From now on, you'll be responsible for the prison guard management of both Crimson Lotus Hell and Beast Hell.

"As for the lower levels, we'll hold off for now—ah! My stomach hurts!"

Mid-sentence, Magellan clutched his rear and dashed into the bathroom.

Left with no choice, Storm could only return to the First Sea Level.

He'd been promoted, but not fully promoted.

Storm's best-case scenario had been taking direct charge of all prison guard management.

From the Blue Gorilla in Crimson Lotus Hell to the Prison Beasts in Scorching Hell—everything under his command.

But now, he only had one extra layer: Beast Hell.

"I hope the prison guard level in Beast Hell is better than those water monkeys!"

Storm returned to the First Sea Level and entered his private office.

He didn't rush to check on Beast Hell. Instead, he first summoned the several [Big Trophy] he'd obtained earlier.

After patrolling Crimson Lotus Hell, he'd gained eight [Bronze Trophy] and one [Silver Trophy].

Storm checked his ability list.

He invested the sole [Silver Trophy] into [Tekkai].

The remaining eight [Bronze Trophy] went into [Geppo], [Rankyaku], [Shigan], and [Swordsmanship].

With that—

The star ratings of the abilities Storm now possessed became—

[Tekkai: ★★★☆]

[Geppo: ★★★]

[Rankyaku: ★★★]

[Shigan: ★★★]

[Swordsmanship: ★★]

All of Storm's [Rokushiki] had reached three stars!

Even [Swordsmanship], which he'd completely set aside, had climbed to two stars.

With a bit of training later, the actual level of all these abilities would skyrocket!

Just as Storm was about to continue crafting [Clay Clone] and train his physical techniques—

An angry voice suddenly rang out from outside his office door.

"Storm!"

Hannyabal pounded hard on the door.

"You've got the guts to go see Magellan! Then have the guts to open this door!"

Storm flicked his right hand, and his clay-formed arm stretched directly, pulling the office door open.

Hannyabal, who had been about to charge in, stumbled and fell flat on his face.

The Lord Chief Jailer rolled into the Jailer Chief's office in a very undignified manner.

"Ahem!"

Flustered, Hannyabal scrambled up from the floor, trying to salvage his authority as Chief Jailer.

"Storm! You actually went and sided with Magellan!"

"Huh?"

Faced with the accusation, Storm was baffled.

"What are you talking about?"

"My informant just told me!"

Hannyabal rushed to the desk, slamming both hands on its surface, glaring angrily at Storm.

"You went to Magellan's office and conspired with him for a long time!

"Are you planning to team up with Magellan and overthrow my rule?"

There were too many holes in Hannyabal's words.

Storm didn't know how to react for a moment.

But if he had just opened his mouth and answered, it would have been fine.

His silence only deepened the misunderstanding.

Hannyabal flew into a rage.

And then raged again.

"Storm! You're a man I've acknowledged—"

"Stop! Cut it out!"

Seeing that Hannyabal was about to throw a tantrum, Storm raised his right hand and cut him off.

"I went to see the Warden because I wanted a promotion."

"A promotion?"

Hannyabal froze on the spot.

"Could it be... that Magellan doesn't have long left, and he plans to leave the Warden's seat to you?"

"Damn it! I was here first!"

"Listen here, Lord Chief Jailer!"

Storm flicked his right hand, and the white clay turned into a chain, yanking Hannyabal in front of him.

"I have no interest in the Warden's position!"

"I went to see the Warden because I want to take over Sadie-chan's job and manage the Prison Beasts!"

After hearing Storm's explanation, Hannyabal let out a sigh of relief.

But he still couldn't help complaining.

"Why would you go to Magellan over something so trivial!"

"Trivial?"

"I'm the man who's going to become the Warden of Impel Down!"

Hannyabal was wrapped up in clay from head to toe, but his tone was still arrogant.

"Isn't it just managing the Prison Beasts?"

"I'll help you!"

Good news: The read count broke a hundred.

Bad news: Not enough to get on the recommendation list.

Tough.